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CPA Australia predicts huge future for accountants
CPA Australia, Australia’s leading professional organisation for auditors and accountants – and the seventh largest in the world – marked its first year of its presence in Viet Nam by launching an enhanced online learning programme on accounting and auditing recently. On the occasion, Viet Nam News reporter Phuong Hoa spoke to CPA Australia CEO Geoff Rankin about the potential for Viet Nam’s accounting and auditing profession.
What’s the future for the accounting and auditing profession in Viet Nam?
Viet Nam is an emerging economy which has shown remarkable resilience in the face of the global financial crisis. This resilience is a testament to the Government’s economic reforms and the increasing professionalism of Viet Nam’s finance and business practitioners.
Viet Nam’s accounting and auditing standards will continue to develop as your country emerges from the global recession. If the global financial crisis has shown us anything, it is that governance and ethics that are two of the foundations for sustainable long-term business growth.
At present, there are about 350 accountants with international qualifications in Viet Nam. The demand for accountants by 2010 is estimated at 7,000.
How many accountants and auditors can CPA Australia help train in Viet Nam each year?
CPA Australia is providing more ways for people to become CPA members, whatever their educational backgrounds. The new pathways to membership welcome people who want a career built on professional accounting skills and who have the desire, competence and appropriate approach to ethics and integrity to carry the CPA designation.
The CPA programme is comprised of 14 educational segments and a fully integrated practical experience requirement. To attain CPA status, a candidate must hold a bachelors’ degree or a postgraduate qualification of at least eight units; complete the professional level of the CPA programme within six years; undertake continuing professional development annually; and demonstrate continued adherence to a strict code of conduct set by CPA Australia.
Viet Nam still lacks professional accountants and auditors with world-standard certification. What is your advice on how to deal with the problem?
Accountants that are able to add value to businesses are in great demand around the world, particularly given the current economic turmoil. That’s because accountants who can keep track of the numbers as well as provide a strategic outlook, allow organisations to attract capital and obtain finance, both of which are scarce commodities at present.
More professionally qualified accountants are needed to ensure that owners of capital can measure whether their investments in Viet Nam are achieving a return.
That is why CPA Australia sees Viet Nam as such a strategic market. We see a strong, competent, ethical and independent accounting profession as being vital to underpinning the stability of Viet Nam’s stock market, to attracting and retaining foreign direct investment, and ultimately to underpinning Viet Nam’s economic growth. CPA Australia sees itself playing a vital role in this area.
Do you have any plans to further expand your operations in Viet Nam?
CPA Australia’s strategy in Viet Nam is to continue to build strong relationship with key stakeholders, including its members, prospective members, the business, finance and education sectors, and of course the relevant Vietnamese Government agencies.
What is the importance of accuracy in financial reports, especially for enterprises listed on the HCM City and Ha Noi exchanges?
CPA Australia is wholly committed to the International Accounting Standards Board’s development of International Financial Reporting Standards as the best way to achieve efficient and transparent functioning of global capital markets throughout the world. The current crisis amply demonstrates the need for rigour, accuracy and transparency in the reporting of financial information.
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